“Chepe se baña” or “Chepe Bathes” (Chepe is a term used by Costa Ricans to refer to the city of San José) is a project to help transform a bus into a moving bathroom, with the purpose of providing homeless people of San José with the opportunity to take a shower, have access to a bathroom and clean up.

With the help of private companies and individuals the first bus is already painted and properly labeled, but it is still missing the necessary equipment.

In order to raise funds to finish this first unit, the organization has created the campaign “Donating drops of life” which asks the population to make a donation of 1 thousand colones (under $2.00).

The buses will help the many homeless that live in the San José streets improve their quality of life while at the same time will contribute with the image of the city.

Currently the project is recruiting volunteers, requesting donations of towels, personal hygiene items, clothes, etc.

It is estimated that there are over 1,100 homeless in the city of San José, where there is currently only one First Attention Center that provides a place to sleep, eat and rehabilitation programs, since according to different studies 9 out of 10 people living in the streets have an addiction, the capacity of the center is of just 102 people a day. The Municipality of San José has promised the creation of a second center.

The majority of this population is composed by men, but the number of women continues to grow.

The project “Chepe se baña” is an initiative of ProMundo Foundation, for the time being and while they are able to raise the necessary funds, the foundation is organizing events where they set up temporary showers in different parks in San José and with the assistance of volunteers they are offering haircuts, food, clothes and other needed services and items to this population in need.

Those interested in contributing can call:(506) 8708-8911 for information, details on the bank account can be found in the images included in this article.